Walt Disney World
Marathon

It'll Feel Better When It Stops Hurting

by
Laura Gilbreath

Last
year my husband Lee and I ran the 2005 Walt Disney World Half Marathon,
and had a great time. We were quite pleased with our beautiful Donald
Duck finisher medals...but in the day or two following the half marathon
we kept seeing all of these people walking around wearing their Mickey
Mouse (full marathon) medals...and those looked really good. And surely
we needed a matched set...wouldn't Donald be lonely without Mickey?
So we signed up to run the full marathon in 2006.

We trained
quite seriously for about 4 months before the race, and one of the best
things we did was to hire a running coach. He designed a custom training
program for us and we met with him weekly. I highly recommend working
with a coach or some kind of a marathon training group to anyone training
for their first marathon - we learned SO much from Dan, and he answered
our questions and helped us through a lot of different issues. Having
a training schedule helped keep us motivated and disciplined, too. And
of course it also helped that there were two of us doing it - in addition
to all of that "quality time" we spent running together, a
little friendly competition kept us going.

Fast forward
to marathon weekend...we'd been watching the weather report, and by
Saturday it was obvious that it was going to be COLD at the start of
the race -- the forecast was 32 degrees!!! (Average at the start is
more like 48 degrees, and it ended up being 35 - a whole three degrees
higher than predicted.) We had to scramble around a bit to figure out
how we were going to stay warm - the problem wasn't so much staying
warm while we were running as staying warm while we were waiting around
for over an hour for the race to *start*. We purchased some cheap throwaway
gloves and Tyvek jackets at the marathon expo, and also gave Mickey
some additional money for a couple of stocking caps to keep our heads
and ears warm. And we'd both brought heavy shirts that we planned to
discard along the course. We were planning to run with our friend Sherry,
and her fiance came to the rescue - he is a balloon pilot and had a
bunch of those hand warmer packs in his car - tucking those into our
gloves really helped keep us warm!

We arrived
at the start area on Sunday morning around 4:45 and checked the WARM
clothes we planned to have waiting for us at the end of the race, and
then began the long walk from the staging area to the start line on
Epcot Center Drive. That walk was actually quite a bit easier this year
than last year - since the marathon and half marathon were run on different
days, there were less than 14,000 people making their way to the start
line rather than over 20,000!

The fireworks
went off at 5:58 (two minutes early!) and we were off. We saw lots of
trash bags with legs in the early going (it was a good day if you have
stock in Hefty!), but as we kept going the clothes started coming off
- there was a variety of jackets, shirts, gloves, and hats discarded
along the side of the course. (Disney picks up these items, cleans them,
and donates them to charity.) Sunrise wasn't until 7:18, so it was still
quite dark for the first few 5-6 miles of the race.

Around
mile 2-1/2 we ran through Epcot's front gate and under Spaceship Earth,
then out towards World Showcase where we ran under the brilliantly lit
Lights of Winter arches, and past the Christmas tree (and the mile 3
marker!) and got our first glimpse of the World Showcase Lagoon. All
of the torches were burning, the country pavilions were all lit up,
and the globe was turning in the center of the lagoon. It's really quite
a sight, and gave me chills that didn't come from the 35 degree temperature.

We ran
into the backstage area of Epcot between Norway and China, and then
back beside Test Track and Wonders of Life before exiting Epcot and
getting back out onto Epcot Center Drive. Where we got this strange
sense of deja vu - weren't we just here about 45 minutes ago?

On the
way to Magic Kingdom we ran past many spectators who had braved the
cold temperatures and the early hour to come out and cheer us on - several
cheerleading squads, a couple of high school bands, and even some "hula"
dancers - as well as family and friends of runners.

Not long
after we passed the mile 10 sign we burst into the Magic Kingdom and
onto Main Street, which was lined with cheering people. Chip and Dale
were standing off to the side, and we stopped to get our picture taken
with them - the first of MANY character photos throughout the day. Most
people ran right by, so we rarely had to wait very long. And there was
always an obliging Disney Cast Member available to snap the picture
for us. They really did a wonderful job with that.

Sherry's
fiance was waiting for us near the hub, and after she got a quick hug
we continued into Tomorrowland. We of course HAD to get our photo taken
with Stitch, who got a kick out of seeing the stuffed Tigger I was carrying
around my waist and the stuffed Stitch that Lee had. Then it was around
Tomorrowland and past the tea cups and into Fantasyland. Dumbo and the
carousel were spinning away, though there were no riders. We ran through
the castle and into Liberty Square and Frontierland, and out of the
park via the gate next to Splash Mountain that the parades use. Several
of the floats from the "Share a Dream Come True" parade were
back there.

Along Grand
Floridian Way there were lots of cheering spectators, and as we ran
past the Wedding Pavilion the Cast Members were out in force - the women
were wearing white with the Bride Minnie ears, and the men in black
with the Groom ears.

When we'd
reached this point last year we were almost done with the half marathon,
but nooooo...we still had just over 13 miles to go! By now the sun had
been up for an hour and it was a beautiful day - plenty of blue sky
and sunshine but it was still chilly.

There wasn't
much to see along the road to Animal Kingdom, but the Sharpie company
had put up a bunch of signs along the side of the road, a la the classic
Burma Shave signs, which helped keep our minds occupied. They had sayings
like "Why do we park on driveways and drive
on parkways", and, one of my favorites, "Where are we going
and why am I carrying this handbasket?" Really clever.

There
were lots of characters once we got closer to Animal Kingdom, and several
of the floats and puppets and stiltwalkers from Mickey's Jammin' Jungle
Parade were on display, with Mickey and Minnie themselves at one of
them! There were even some keepers with a couple of *real* animals -
I saw a goat and an owl.

We ran
onstage into Harambe and then around into Asia past Flights of Wonder
and towards Expedition Everest. One of the siamangs was perched waaay
up high in the tower and even he was cheering us on with a series of
"whoop...whoooop...WHOOP" calls. I'm sure it's not every day
he sees thousands of silly people run by!

In Dinoland
USA we ran past the scary looking dinosaur at the beginning of the Cretaceous
Trail, and then backstage again. You do get some interesting looks at
things backstage during the marathon - Animal Kingdom had recycling,
composting, and sewage treatment facilities, and there was a lovely
scum pond near the Studios. I enjoyed seeing the back side of Expedition
Everest, though - just this flat wall with the outline of mountains
above it.

I'd just
like to say that miles 18-22 were pretty boring...though we did get
another set of those Sharpie signs from 19-21. Including my very
favorite: "Do radioactive cats have 18 half lives?"

We were
really getting to the "OK, I'm ready for this to be over!"
stage by then. *Finally*, not long after the 22 mile mark, we entered the
backstage area of Disney-MGM studios. And they really rolled out the
red carpet for us. Literally! We ran on a red carpet for about 50 feet,
and that felt *so* good to our tired feet - nice and soft! But all too soon we were pounding
on asphalt again. The route took us past the old animation studios and
the Earful Tower, and through the costuming area - though there was
no one working on Sunday. Quite a few characters, too. Abby Mallard
from Chicken Little was there and she was SO sweet -- she gave me a
BIG hug when I posed with her. We
came onstage at the end of New York Street, right at the Mile 23 sign.
I think we saw more characters in the Studios than any other park...and
quite a few of them were "face" characters, like Snow White,
the Evil Queen, Jasmine and Aladdin, Hercules and Megara, Mulan, and
Pocahontas. We ran past the Sorcerer's hat and down Hollywood Blvd,
and out the main entrance where we took the walkway (or that day, a
runway!) between the Studios and the Epcot Resort area.

We were
staying at the Boardwalk, and the Mile 24 marker was less than 100'
from our room - we could SEE our room from there! Oh so tempting, but
we had only 2.2 miles left! And this part of the course, because it
was very easily accessible, was full of people cheering us on, and encouraging
us and telling us we were almost there, and that we could do it. That
really helps when you're tired. Thank you to ALL of you who were out
there cheering for any of the runners over the weekend - you really
made a difference.

The route
took us by the Yacht and Beach Clubs and then into the backstage area
of Epcot near the International Gateway. We wound around
back there a bit before entering World Showcase by the UK pavilion,
and then ran counter-clockwise around World Showcase lagoon, passing
the 25 mile sign in France. 1.2 miles...we can do this! At World Showcase
Plaza we again ran past the Christmas tree, where a group of Cast
Members from many of the different country pavilions were cheering us
on. Then under the Lights of Winter...haven't we been here before?
About 5 hours ago??? Less than half a mile to go!

Past the
Fountain of Nations...Mousegear...Electric Umbrella...under Spaceship
Earth, then backstage...and there was the 26 mile sign. We
picked up the pace and turned the corner and we could see it. The FINISH
LINE! About 50' from the line we all joined hands and crossed the finish
line together, arms raised in triumph. WE DID IT!

Someone
wrapped us in mylar blankets (oh look, it's a bunch of baked potatoes
with legs!), cut the timing chips off our shoes, and hung that
precious Mickey Medal around our necks.

After we
went to the baggage tent and got our bags, and the food tent and got
some food, we went to the Family Reunion area, where Tom
(Sherry's fiance) and my Evil Twin Pam were waiting for us. And we hugged,
and showed off our medals and posed for pictures.

All things
considered we actually felt very good - really not particularly sore,
and all of us were still walking pretty well. It had turned into a beautiful
day with plenty of sunshine, and since we weren't waiting for anyone
else, after a while it finally occurred to us that we could just leave,
and go find a hot shower and a soft bed.

It was
a great experience, and I'm glad we did it. Would I do it again? Wellll...Let's
just say that at this point I have no plans to run another marathon...but
that doesn't mean I couldn't be talked into it.

And of
course the most important thing is that Donald now has Mickey to keep
him company.

Laura's
Disney Marathon Tips

1. Develop
a training plan and stick to it - if you get off-schedule (and you will)
just pick it back up as soon as you can. There are many books and on-line
training programs available for both marathons and half marathons.

2. Don't
let the setbacks discourage you. As Coach Dan told us
many times: "Some days you're a diamond, some days
you're a rock."

3. Realize
that training for a marathon is a significant investment of time, and
you're going to have to prioritize and possibly put other activities
and interests on hold for a while.

4. Be extra-conscious
about staying healthy in the weeks just before the race - wash your
hands frequently, keep them away from your face,
get plenty of sleep and stay away from sick people.

On marathon
day...

5. Take
a camera, and stop to take photos, and to have your photo taken.

6. Say
thank you to all of the wonderful people who help make this race possible
- from the indispensable volunteers who hand you food and water, to
the cast members and characters who take pictures and pose for pictures.

7. Smile
and wave to the spectators cheering you on, and high-5 the little kids
who stand along the race course - they are adorable.

8. Enjoy
the moment and have fun!

If
you have any questions about the Disney marathon, send Laura an email: lgil at
lgil dot net